FIFA shooting tutorial. How to shoot in FIFA

Shooting across the keeper, long shots, finesse shots on the edge of box are all strong. As well as just placing it low in corner with a small tap of shoot button. Keepers now save lots of shots with their new animations so if you are up against a really good keeper you will find scoring harder.

Shot preparation

To have the best chance of your shot going where you want your player needs to be ready to shoot and moving a little slower in FIFA 17. It’s just like real life you can’t shoot as well if off balance, facing wrong direction or being hassled etc. With driven shots using weaker foot isn’t usually as bad as when trying to finesse. More on finesse in the next section. Try to steady your player before shooting by tapping left trigger (LT or L2) on its own just before shooting. If being hassled when running a tap of the right bumper on its own will stop your player instantly and face goal. Then you can get your shot away as the defender continues running. If running at pace hit shoot button while the ball is a little bit in front of your player. For higher accuracy and control try to move the ball to the side of the players stronger foot and nudge it into a little bit of space ahead.

Finesse shooting

Press RB/R1 and shoot button to do a finesse shot. This means the player will shoot with the inside of his foot and curl the ball into the corner. The key to finesse shooting is knowing which foot the player uses to shoot with! Easy for players you know such as Messi left foot, Ronaldo right foot. The reason this is important is because a player trying to shoot using finesse with their weak foot will usually fail to score. So if you are playing any game of FIFA know your players. Usually people use left footed players as the right striker and right footed players as the left striker. They then have more angles on their side of the pitch to shoot from. Good places to use finesse are one on one with keeper and the edges of the box. You can also add aftertouch to really curl the finesse into the corner.

Driven shots

In FIFA 17 these are harder but still effective with better players. Especially those with long shot trait. When using a driven shot you need to decide on power against accuracy. Just tap shoot twice and your shot will be medium power which should keep it low. Experiment with power as everyone has a different touch pressure wise on the pad. As a guide look to use less than half power in the box and up to three quarters outside the box. You will find driven shots are really effective shooting at the near post. So if the keeper is standing slightly to the right of the goal aim left stick to the right of the goal.

Direction and aftertouch

Unfortunately we haven’t mastered manual shooting and doubt anyone else has. We have tried but think lots more training is required or EA to explain if it actually works and how. However direction and aftertouch still apply to semi and assisted shooting. More than people realise. For direction as you are powering up with the shoot button push the left stick in the place you want it to go in the goal. So if you are attacking left to right diagonally up right with the stick is top left of the goal.

Then let go of stick and shoot button and as your player makes contact with the ball you can add aftertouch. You need to move the left stick slowly rather than flicking it fast. Roll the stick in a semi circle from bottom to top (of your attacking direction) if looking for maximum curl with some dip. The following images give examples of where to move the stick to add aftertouch. To see them bigger click on them and then click on the image thumbnail which appears.

You will notice that if you knock the ball on with the right stick further ahead you have more time to direct and then prepare your aftertouch. If you have space I recommend it as the curve and dip you can create really adds flair to your shooting and increases the ball speed.

Long shots

In FIFA 17 same as 16 you need players with high shot power or long shot trait. So look out for them and get them in your team. To keep the shots down hold the left stick towards goal just after releasing shot button. Or away from goal to make the ball rise. Also need to slow down in space and press shoot then let go of everything. Players with long shot trait outside the box are a big weapon to have. You will score lots of long shots from outside the box with the right players.

Use fake shot or a skill

As mentioned in the secret fifa skills section the fake shot is a very useful skill to make space for a shot. To beat players and also to beat the keeper. Especially pro keepers who will be expecting finesse shots when they see the fake shot motion. Then you can power a shot to the other side or even roll it in if they dived. Using fake shot also makes the ball move diagonally in front of your player which is the ideal shooting position. You can get more accuracy and add more aftertouch if there is space between the ball and striking foot. Make sure you fake from the weak foot onto the stronger foot unless a world class player or pro.

Also practice different skills before shooting. If one on one lots of the skills can help you beat the keeper. Side stepping, heel to heel flick, mcgeady spins, heel chop, even flicking it over your head. Find your favourite and try it before shooting. if our FIFA shooting tutorial helped make sure to follow us on twitter and tweet it out.

49 Comments

can someone just tell me which is the max degrees to aim for near and far post goals , i know 11 oclock is top right 12 is top middle and 1 oclock is top left corner , then 5 oclock is lower left and 7 is lower right , my question is this, do these aiming points remain the same even when the camera angles changes? i just cant grab the near post and far post angles , i miss allotttt

been hours practicing and got two curved passes on manual mode but no curved shots…so does this method really work? if tryed it in assisted too and got worse results¡¡¡ could you make a video on how to curve the ball in passes or shoots?

I found the secret of manual shooting. It’s a mental block more than anything else. The secret is retraining your brain to direct the shot as if it was a pass. That’s it. If you were in the box and wanted to shoot into the top left corner with assisted shooting you would aim your stick towards the left corner flag! However if you were to pass to a player standing next to the left post you would aim at the left post, not the corner flag. So that is the secret, shoot as if you were passing. So the angles on your stick are the same as passing, with manual the area of the goal is very small. I’ll try to explain in more details about the angels. If you are on teleview and imagine a clock face on your stick then 3 o’clock would be facing goal towards, which would be on the right. If you running into the box, running straight from left to right then aiming at 3 o’clock, then shooting would hit the ball into the middle of the goal. Aim at 2 o’clock that would hit the ball into the far left of the net. If you shoot towards 4 o’clock that with hit the ball into the far right of the net. If you shoot towards 1 o’clock or 5 o’clock you will hit it wide. So it’s just like passing. FIFA actually created this mental block with regards to assisted shooting, it should be the same as passing but they changed it for shooting; made you aim at the corner flag (in-between 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock) to shoot into the top left corner. So the only way to fix the mental block is to play 10 games on manual shooting constantly shooting wildly wide until your mind relearns how to shoot, to shoot with the same angles as passing. Then you will have better accuracy and control.

How do some players shoot the ball off their foot faster than others? Seems like 90% of the time when I shoot, the player has a 2 second wind-up followed by the shoot, allowing defenders to tackle or get in the way for a block. Is it a certain trait that’s higher for some strikers such as reactions or vision? Or a trait? And second, is there also a difference if it is shot normal or with finesse?

Hi, I know this might be in the wrong place, but cant find this anywhere or youtube, how do you do the fifa 12 celebration where the players arms and legs do like a spinning motion all at the same time? people do it against me, it looks so weird but cant find any tutorials online, does anyone know?

I’m beyond frustrated with this game as I’ve been playing a good bit since 09 and can’t seem to improve. For one I HATE the fact that people consider themselves good FIFA players when they use an all automatic controller setup when playing. The computer does ALL the work, all you have to do is press A continuously and the ball get’s pinged around the pitch not to mention how easy scoring becomes. Secondly their isn’t enough balance when it comes to players who constantly press their opponents as they don’t tire to the point of becoming a liability in a counter attack. Instead they still seem to be able to step in and win the ball after 80 mins on non-stop, box to box pressing. Oh and God for bid someone at EA actually fixes the cherry picking goal that come from simple goal kicks!

Some good points, be nice to be able to choose manual controls in all various modes rather than just in the lobbies! Will add that to FIFA13 section. Also the goal kicks which somehow leave strikers 3 v 1 from a simple header.

Thanks for tip. I’ll keep trying. Question, should I be practicing this 1 on 1 in the arena or as a part of the sets. I have only been trying this on the 1 on 1 feature to see if the dip or topspin actually occurs. Could that be my problem? At times the ball goes up and comes down but I think thats just natural gravity or am I doing it and not realizing it. The reason i ask is because when I hold the shoot button down and the left stick forward simultaneously towards the goal and release both to shoot the ball goes up and dips on its own even if I don’t then flick the left stick towards goal a second time as he is shooting.

Just recently purchased FIFA 12. Am enjoying game but like many others am finding it impossible to apply aftertouch to ball once i start the striking process. I have an xbox and no amount of pressing up or down on left stick just prior to, during or after the ball leaves the foot lifts or dips the ball. Absolutely no top spin is generated at all. I noticed the mini pics for after touch are all using playstation controllers. Does that make a difference? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated as putting top spin on a ball should not be so difficult to do. Thanks.

Same for both consoles. just before shoots flick same direction as facing. Then as ball leaves foot hold left stick in direction to add top spin. You will notice more on long shots and replays of different camera angles.

Hi there, very helpful information.. thank you for the effort you put in. but im just a little confused about the aftertouch. can you explain it again for me please if you don’t mind.?
after you push the left stick towards the direction with the shoot button, do you use the left stick or the right stick for the aftertouch.? and if i want to add topspin, do i just move the stick straight up slowly or move it from bottom to top if you understand what im saying lol..

Depending which way your player is facing, use the left stick as soon as the ball has left the players foot, talking milliseconds. Try curling the left stick round and see what happens to the ball. Best setting up exhibition game in amateur mode using a top team against a 2 star team to practice. For top sin hold stick same direction as shot. Pull opposite way on stick when shooting and watch how the ball rises high.

What exactly influences the aftertouch? The path (including how fast i do this) where i pulled the stick in a certain time or is it the position of the stick at ONE point (let’s say the point of where he touches the ball when shooting).

I mean i basically understood the way of doing it, i just want to know how to control the aftertouch more accurate. 😉

I don’t mean to be “anti” or anything, but I’ve grown sceptic to aftertouch, because I’ve been trying and searching for the right way to use it (since Fifa 10) and I’ve been unable to find any consistency or even confirmation that it actually exists. I’m an all-manual player and I’ve gotten a few random curls and spins in my endless tries, but I haven’t found an actual, consistent way to add spin/curl to manual shots. The more I try, the more I feel like I’m chasing a white whale, a myth.
I’ve searched for ages and your little tutorial is the closest thing I’ve found to an actual guide/explanation. Problem is, I’ve been trying to do it for the past couple of hrs and it’s not working.
Can you give me a more detailed, “frame by frame”, explanation on how you do you it exactly – Preparation, key-pressing sequences, timing and left-stick motion.
P.S: Adding your own curl/spin is the reason why I switched to manual years ago, because Assisted gives you whatever spin it fu**ing decides. However, I have yet to find a way to manually add spin/curl. I’m getting desperate in here.

Even in manual it is difficult to get aftertouch that we actually want as you have rightly said. It is only really noticeable with manual thru balls or manual lobbed balls which go a long distance. You can bend the ball into open space and curling the left stick after the ball has left the boot you can definitely control it. With shooting tho it is so difficult as usually you have very little time and close to the goal. With how they have programmed finesse and aiming at the goal it makes it even more difficult. Will update with greater detail.

Hi .. thanks for sharing all these good tips ! love to learn the secret method of shooting but i can not do it !!! tried many ways but still not able .. is there any chance you explain more about it .. steps and space between player and th ball … i kick th ball with RS then in that space press shoot ..but… !!!

Set exhibition games to amateur and practice. Don’t use RB as much just press shoot until the bar is half power. Get used to that first. Make sure you have controller settings to assisted for shooting!

Thank you so much ! ,, practicing ! not xbox .. i have ps3 and my setting is semi, dont like assisted because its like player is locked or moves so heavy ! i know there should be a little space between player and ball before pressing shoot but when i focus on that space i miss it !! tried many different ways .. like ..when player looking i did shoot didnt work.. when player just started running in that heavy start when player starts to run ,, didnt work lol so started focusing on players feet !! its better but as some people say there should be2 steps before reaching th ball i think thats impossible to counting !!!!! tried to time it as when i press shoot player still has some space before reaching th ball .. i think got better there !! i always kick the ball with right stick ,, never tried shooting as player is running with ball !

Can you do a bit on first time shots, theres nothing mroe annoying than a player being through balled in and then them misqueuing a 3 bar shot so it pee rolls along the floor.
or trying to compensate for the pee roll by goign to 4 bar, than the shot blazing 50 yd over
do you know why this happens?

Will do a heading tutorial seperate good idea. It is all about the left stick heading. Press shoot button once as ball is coming towards head and then as it is nearly there flick left stick in direction of goal and hold it releasing everything else. Should see yourself winning more headers then. Also a little earlier you can shove defender or attacker you are going to jump with using left trigger. Just hold left trigger and push into the player. Then as ball comes in they will lose a bit of balance if timed correctly. Unless they too strong.

Thanks for the respond! I think i’m getting closer to do this since i focused on this a whole day. Can you tell me your camera settings? I use Tele. But what i really want to now is how your sliders are set. Camera height and Zoom. I prefer zooming out quite much, but this makes me keep up some accuracy.
Also the height (the angle off your view on the pitch). Im not sure what is used “best” to get the most control.
I hope you understand what i’m trying to say (i’m not a native speaker)

Glad you are improving it is all about understanding and practising. How you control that left stick for placement of shot and then aftertouch is key. I use tele as I need to see as much of the play as possible to be able to defend and see manual through ball chances.
Goal looks awesome nice one. I’ve also added a language translator at top of all pages now as there are thousands of visitors outside UK and USA. More updates to come!!

Hi Radag on FIFA 12 aftertouch works well on assisted or semi/manual. Basically just as you are striking the ball try curling your left stick in a slight arc. This helps finesse shots bend in as unlike in 11 they don’t do that naturally now. We will do some videos now had chance to play 12 lots on all 3 formats. Keep checking and will try emailing you.